Tacos Dorados de Papa Jarochos

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large pot for boiling the potatoes
• •Potato ricer or masher
• •Heavy cast iron skillet for frying
• •Wooden toothpicks
• •Blender for the salsa verde
• •Wire rack set over a sheet pan for draining

Instructions

1. 1

   Boil the potatoes

   Peel the potatoes and cut them into even chunks so they cook at the same rate. Put them in a large pot, cover with cold water by an inch, and add a generous tablespoon of salt. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 to 18 minutes, until a knife slides through with no resistance. Drain well and let them sit in the colander a few minutes to steam off. Dry potato is the whole secret of a taco dorado. Wet potato makes a sad, soggy taco that falls apart in the oil.

   If you own a potato ricer, use it. It gives you a drier, smoother mash than a fork or masher ever will, and dry is what you want.
2. 2

   Season and mash

   Melt the 3 tablespoons of lard in a small pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook until soft and translucent, about five minutes, then add the minced garlic and cook one minute more, just until you smell it. Scrape all of it, fat and all, into the drained potatoes. Add the salt and mash until smooth but not gluey. Taste it. The filling has to carry the whole taco, so it should be assertively seasoned, never flat. La manteca es el sabor. Let it cool to room temperature before you fill the tortillas.

3. 3

   Make the salsa verde

   Husk and rinse the tomatillos until they lose their sticky coating. Put them in a saucepan with the serrano chiles, cover with water, and simmer for eight to ten minutes, until the tomatillos turn from bright to dull olive green and go soft. Drain, saving a little of the cooking water. Blend the tomatillos and chiles with the raw garlic, onion, cilantro, and salt, loosening with a splash of cooking water if it needs it. Taste for salt and heat. It should be sharp and a little loose, the kind of green salsa that runs down into the cabbage.

   For real jarocho heat, crush three or four wild chiltepines into the salsa. They bring a clean, quick burn that serrano alone does not.
4. 4

   Warm and fill the tortillas

   Warm the tortillas on a dry comal until soft and foldable, about 20 seconds a side, and keep them stacked in a cloth so they hold their heat. Working one at a time, spread two heaping tablespoons of potato across the lower third of the tortilla. Roll it tight or fold it over and pin the seam shut with a wooden toothpick. Work quickly. A tortilla that cools down cracks when you fold it, and the filling escapes into the oil.

   If the tortillas still crack on you, pass each one through the warm frying lard for a few seconds first. It makes them pliable enough to fold without tearing.
5. 5

   Fry until golden

   Heat about half an inch of lard in a heavy skillet over medium-high until it shimmers and bubbles the instant a tortilla edge touches it. Lay the tacos in seam side down, only a few at a time so you do not crowd the pan and drop the temperature. Fry until deep golden and hard, about two minutes a side, turning once. Dorado means golden, and that is exactly what you are after. Listen for a steady, lively sizzle. If the pan goes quiet, the fat is too cool and the tacos will drink it up and turn greasy instead of crisp.

   Seam side down first. The hot fat seals the seam shut in the first few seconds so the taco cannot open and spill its potato.
6. 6

   Drain on a rack

   Lift the tacos onto a wire rack set over a sheet pan and pull the toothpicks out while they are still hot. Use a rack, not a plate lined with paper alone, so air moves under the tacos and the bottoms stay hard instead of sitting and sweating soft. If you are frying in batches, hold the finished ones in a low oven.

7. 7

   Dress and serve

   Lay three or four tacos on a plate, over a smear of frijoles negros refritos if you have them. Drizzle with crema, pile on a thick handful of shredded cabbage, crumble queso fresco over the top, and spoon the salsa verde across everything. Eat them right away, while the shell still cracks under your teeth and the cold cabbage and crema play against the hot potato. This is jarocho food: cheap, honest, and far better than it has any right to be. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Use a starchy or all-purpose potato like a yellow Yukon, and mash it dry. Let the filling cool before you roll the tacos. A wet, hot filling steams the tortilla soft from the inside and the taco goes limp before it ever reaches the oil.
• •The jarocho heat is chiltepín, the tiny wild chile they grow in the backcountry of Veracruz. Crush three or four into the salsa verde and you will taste the coast. If you cannot find it, serrano holds the line, but a substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Queso fresco is right, but if you can find queso de Veracruz, the dry, salty cheese they press on the Gulf coast, grate it over the top instead. It clings to the crema and salts every bite.
• •On the Gulf coast the plate comes with frijoles negros refritos, never pinto. Smear a spoonful of black beans under the tacos or set them on the side. The beans, the crema, and the salsa are the jarocho trinity.

Advance Preparation

• •The potato filling can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. Bring it back to cool room temperature before rolling, and make sure it is dry.
• •The salsa verde keeps three days in the refrigerator. The green dulls a little but the flavor holds.
• •Fry the tacos just before serving. A taco dorado that sits loses its crackle and there is no bringing it back. No me vengas con atajos on this one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 450g)